Cutting all cords.

Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You’ll find what you need to furnish it – memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey.

Tad Williams

We all know the old saying “Home is where the heart is”, but for me a better saying would be, “Home is where serenity & calmness lies”. As a child I was always told that your home should be your sanctuary, now that I own a home, I am taking steps to create my sanctuary. There aren’t many places in world where you have 100% control over your environment. The place you call home is one of those rare places. If you want to draw on your walls, leave clothes on the floor, or keep it spotless it is your decision to do so. You may have to deal with a partner or family, but for the most part you can still do what you please within the walls of your home, as long as it doesn’t harm anyone.

One step that I took to create my sanctuary was to cut all the cords. What does that mean? Well for most Americans this may be radical, but I no longer have the internet or cable tv in my home. I do not think that the internet is evil, I think it is an amazing tool, but it can consume to much of our precious time. Deciding to not have cable happened years ago, that was simple and a no brainer, I still had the internet to suck up my time and gaze. Home internet is a necessity, I thought. How would I survive? How will I ever know if an octopus could beat a shark in a fight or what all my friends ate for breakfast,lunch and dinner? How could I buy a Homer Simpson Apron at 2am? Life would come to a screeching holt without the internet…so I thought!

On my recent trip I barely used the internet for 3 weeks. It had become the new normal for me to no longer waste hours staring at a screen. When I called my home internet provider to cancel my service, the women on the phone sounded genuinely concerned for my well being. “This young man must be broke” she probably thought. After her concern seemed to disappear she asked me
“Would you like 300 channels of tv plus internet bundled together for the same price you pay now? Will that keep you as a customer?”.

I don’t think she would understand if I told her why I was really canceling. After I hung up the phone and no longer had service, I instantly checked the internet to see if it was still on…it was gone! “Oh god it gone”! A slight bit of panic came over me! Could someone in 2015 actually have a home with no internet? Once I realized that it was gone, I milled around my silent apartment, before getting bored and heading outside!

Over the next few days, I was rarely home, more and more time was spent talking to strangers as I worked at coffee shops, gyms and the good old library. It was invigorating! My productivity skyrocketed, my spending decreased and the amount of time spent outside increased. When it is time to work or write, that was what I did. No more jumping from website to website. The comfort of my home was traded for a faux leather seat at Starbucks. This is not my ideal situation so I want to get my work done as quickly as possible, I didn’t have time to hangout and watch Youtube.

It has been a few weeks now, I have completely adjusted to not having it. Like anything new this seemed daunting at first, but as time went on, it became easier and easier. I challenge you to unplug your internet & cable for a week and see what happens. Maybe it isn’t for everyone, but I think we can all benefit from a little less screen time.